On the Corinthian Spirit – The Decline of Amateurism in Sport

On the Corinthian Spirit – The Decline of Amateurism in Sport
D.J.Taylor
2006
Hardback, 131 pages, £10.00



Lets get something out the way early here: this is an overpriced book. It does not represent good value for money. This book is 131 A6 pages in fairly large type, priced at a tenner. It can probably be presumed that the publishers did not intend this book for people who would complain about the price, or the lack of value, but rather those who understand the beauty of the Corinthians FC – a load of toffs travelling round the world dishing out stuffings to everyone they played. All delivered with style, grace and politeness.

The upper class privilege of the first amateurs allowed them to adopt and develop the glorious principles of the Corinthians in the first place, and it’s an uneasy truth that those who chose to go professional often did so because they didn’t have any money, needed some, and found that glorious principles didn’t stick a roof over their heads.

And yet, putting aside the obvious opportunity afforded to the Upper Classes for no reason other than sheer good fortune, they didn’t have to create the magnificent, formidable, beautiful sport that football became – the “pervasive virus from which no man is immune.” They could have been selfish, exploitative and greedy. Instead, they put in place the decency and fairness from which all that is right with the game originates. I use the word game deliberately here, because the Corinthian values are based upon the idea of football as a game, not a commercial tool and not a plaything for the rich. Not something to be abused and used, or something flashy or crude, but a game, a pure game that rewards skill, fairness and endeavour. Those values remain as relevant today as ever. As the author puts it, the amateur ideals can be seen “in the Herculean fuss guaranteed to arise whenever anyone is found tampering with the game’s heritage or seeking to exploit its traditions for commercial ends.”

This book is a marvellous read, and if you like your references quirky, eccentric and bizarre, and sometimes straying the borders of pretension, you’ll enjoy it as much as I did. If you’re tiring of the 24-hour drivel of Sky Sports Non-News or the brash, trash, bangers n mash spite of the Red Tops, On the Corinthian Spirit is like a 131 page holiday far away from it all. To remove cynicism from football and its media coverage in 2007 is an almost impossible task, but the quaint, intelligent and slightly pompous tone of this wordy book seemed to do it for me.

Taylor quotes a correspondent to the letters page of Tribune magazine in the 1940s, questioning George Orwell’s sour description of football fans:

“These football crowds, he would find, are not great ignorant mobs of sadistic morons. They are a pretty good mixture of just ordinary men. A little puzzled, a little anxious, steady, sceptical, humourous, knowledgable, having a little fun, hoping for a bit of excitement and definitely getting quite a lot of enjoyment out of that glorious king of games – football.”

When you think about it, that sounds to me like Valley terrace, just with less ski-jackets and Haribo.

For those reading who aren’t aware of the amateur history of Wycombe Wanderers – do yourself a favour and look into it. If our support currently finds it impossible to muster any pride in being a Wycombe Wanderers supporter, unless the side wins every fucking week, or unless will fill every fucking executive box, then perhaps learning about where it is the club comes from, and what it stands for, might open a few eyes, and a few souls as well.

A very wise man once wrote that if Wycombe Wanderers could be written into football history as the greatest amateur team in the country, then that would be fine by him.

Fine by me as well, by the way, fine by me.

19.12.2007. 09:52

This article hasn't been commented yet.

Write a comment